Amazing, important, and new things have happened to make 2015 a super year. For Haven of Hope, it is a new beginning and is now in operation. God has given us a new public school where the director chose 30 of the most needy children for our program. Miss Mary has been most cooperative and has promoted our project with enthusiasm, in fact, she expressed our relationship as partners. We see a fantastic open door of future ministry with her school of 870 students.

Besides obtaining new children, we also have a new staff. We asked all of you to pray that God would give us His choice of workers, and for months much prayer was made in this regard. We are happy to say the Lord was faithful in answering this request because we have sensed such a tranquility and peace among the children and all the employees, from the cook to the teachers to the bus driver. The staff is definitely demonstrating love and passion for the children and we are already seeing positive results. Please continue to lift them up in your prayers.

Obviously, we can’t reach the thousands of underprivileged children in our region, but we can make a difference in the ones God has given us. Within our group, we have a little girl who gets up at 4:30 AM to ride a bike to the public school where our bus picks up the children in our project. Also, another little boy’s dad is in jail with a sentence of 35 years. It is amazing how bright he is; after the lesson of salvation with the wordless book, he asked, “Teacher, if Jesus is in heaven, how can he forgive my sins down here on earth”? That’s a pretty intelligent question form a child in his situation. There’s another girl whose mother and dad are in jail. Clearly, the needs are overwhelming, but thank the Lord, there are no problems too big for God to solve. Please pray for these situations.

Along with ministering to these children, we are also quite involved in counseling and mentoring members of our church. For months Diane has worked with a lady who was living with a man, but got saved. Thankfully, today she recognizes God’s plan for a godly relationship, and has broken the ties. It has not been easy since there was a strong emotional and physical attachment, but God has given her the grace and strength to do what is right. Please pray for her. We too, are working with a young couple who is preparing for missions. The young man played professional soccer in Brazil and Spain, but he gave it all up when he accepted God’s call. It is a joy to be able to give instruction and encouragement to this couple who is going through the same circumstances we experienced in our missionary life. Isn’t it wonderful that God uses our lives to touch others? Thank you for your faithfulness that has allowed us to be effective in changing lives here in Brazil.